


Don't Know What the Hat was Thinking

by NeurotropicAgentX



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 10:38:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6281323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeurotropicAgentX/pseuds/NeurotropicAgentX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Rey. Scariest Hufflepuff. Half the school thinks she’s a legilimens. </i>
</p><p>As Finn read, Poe wrote a second line underneath.</p><p> <i>Do you liiiike her? </i></p><p>Finn gave Poe a look that did nothing to deter his grin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Know What the Hat was Thinking

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this](https://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/1082.html?thread=81210#cmt81210) prompt from the tfa kinkmeme. Thank you to random!anon for convincing me to cross-post it.

‘He is not a first year,’ Rey said. One or two of her fellow Hufflepuffs nodded. They were all thinking it. The new student looked big enough to be in sixth year, towering above the rest of the first year students. 

Hux snorted at the comment. ‘Of course he’s not, don’t you know anything?’ Some of the other students turned to him. Hux wasn’t well liked in Hufflepuff, but he did tend to hear all the best rumours.

‘He’s the transfer from Durmstrang.’ Anyone who was paying attention just looked blankly at him. Hux gave a put-upon sigh. ‘The disowned pureblood? Muggle-loving disgrace to his family name? He doesn’t even _have_ his family name anymore?’

‘Finn,’ the Head of Hufflepuff called out. Finn was trying to look unconcerned, but Rey saw the way his eyes were darting around and the sheen of sweat on his forehead. He made his way to the chair and sat stiffly. Professor Skywalker gave him a reassuring smile as he handed the Sorting Hat over.

‘Wouldn’t it be hilarious if he was put in Slytherin?’ Hux said. ‘It might even be enough for his family to reconsider.’

Rey shot Hux a look, but was more focused on the new student’s Sorting.

‘Gryffindor!’ the Hat called out after barely touching Finn’s head.

‘Huh,’ Rey said, feeling just a little disappointed that Finn hadn’t made it into Hufflepuff. He’d looked like he could have used a friend.

The Gryffindor table cheered loudly as Finn went over. The Gryffindor Quidditch captain in particular was standing up and grinning broadly. 

///

Finn sat down and found himself next to the cheerful Gryffindor that had given him a standing ovation. ‘Hi, I’m Poe Dameron: best flyer in the school and Gryffindor Quidditch captain. And you look like you’d make a great chaser.’

‘Uh, thanks, I’m… Finn.’ He was the only student that had been given one name. It still felt odd saying it out loud. If Poe noticed the hesitation, he didn’t say anything and instead started talking about the feast as it appeared on the tables. 

‘So, what can you tell me about the classes here?’ Finn asked.

Poe shrugged. ‘Depends, let’s see your timetable.’

Finn handed it over. Poe scanned the list. ‘Great, we’ve got our first class together. Shame it’s Dark Arts, though.’

‘Wait, what?’ Finn asked, reaching for his timetable. He was out of Durmstrang, there shouldn’t even be a darks arts class. ‘No, it said _Defence Against_ Dark Arts.’

Poe snorted. ‘Yeah that’s what it _says_ , maybe someone should let the professor know one day.’ Poe gave Finn a quick look. ‘Don’t actually say anything to him though, the Head of Slytherin is nasty.’

‘I wasn’t going to,’ Finn said defensively.

Poe shrugged. ‘Probably not, but you learn to be clear with other Gryffindors, just in case.’

‘Speaking from experience?’

‘Yeah,’ Poe grinned.

///

It was a joint Hufflepuff and Gryffindor lesson. Professor Snoke didn’t prowl around the front of the classroom and instead sat behind his desk and orated. There really wasn’t another word for his teaching style. It felt less like a lesson and more like an assembly. 

‘You cannot begin to understand the power of the dark arts,’ the Professor said. His voice carried strange harmonics as he continued. ‘These are spells that engage with the fundamental essence of magic. All other branches are pale imitations that cannot hope to interact with the dark wellspring of magic on any meaningful level.’

Finn stopped paying attention to the lecture and surreptitiously looked around to see what the other students were doing. Most of the Gryffindors looked either bored or vaguely disgusted. At least two groups were passing notes back and fourth. Most of the Hufflepuffs seemed to at least be trying to pay attention, but there were a lot of sceptical looks. One boy in the front row was sitting perfectly straight and staring at Snoke with an intense look of concentration. No one was sitting next to him. 

Finn nudged Poe and gestured to the front row. Poe made a face and scribbled a note on his parchment. 

_Hux. Biggest git in Hufflepuff. Hangs around with the Slytherins. And Snoke._

Finn looked around the class again as Snoke droned on about “the perfect darkness of a well-executed curse”. There was another Hufflepuff sitting off in a corner, who actually seemed to be paying attention. Her mouth was twisted into an expression of distaste, but she was taking down comprehensive notes. Occasionally her quill would slash at her parchment as she either crossed out or underlined something very emphatically. She was also beautiful and Finn found himself staring. She must have felt his eyes on her because she turned to look at him. Even across the classroom her gaze felt oddly intense. Finn looked down and pretended to be taking notes. Poe noticed and wrote something on his parchment. 

_Rey. Scariest Hufflepuff. Half the school thinks she’s a legilimens._

As Finn read, Poe wrote a second line underneath.

_Do you liiiike her?_

Finn gave Poe a look that did nothing to deter his grin.

The lesson finally ended. Finn felt a little numb as he stood up. Poe nudged his shoulder. ‘You okay?’

‘Yeah, sure. I just thought I left that kind of thing behind at Durmstrang.’ 

‘He’s not subtle, is he?’

‘But how does he get away with it? Does he have tenure or something?’ Finn asked.

Poe shrugged. ‘We don’t actually know. There are the usual rumours about blackmail and Imperious curses, but the general consensus is that he’s less dangerous here, where Headmistress Organa can keep an eye on him.’

Finn stuffed his parchment and quill back into his bag. His gaze wandered back to where Rey was packing up too. The joint class was filing out, but Hux trotted up to Snoke’s desk. 

At the door of the classroom, Finn was nearly knocked over by a pale, gangly student wearing _a lot_ of Slytherin signifiers. ‘Out of my way, traitor,’ the newcomer sneered.

‘Have we even met?’ Finn asked.

‘That doesn’t matter. I know who you are. Well, who you _were_. Your family made the right decision.’

‘Excuse me!?’ 

‘Hey, Finn, can I get a hand?’ Poe called, struggling with a stack of parchment and books.

Finn went over to his friend and tried to ignore the way he was still being stared at by the Slytherin. ‘That’s Kylo Ren,’ Poe whispered out of the corner of his mouth. ‘He’s trying to provoke you around Snoke. Don’t fall for it or you’ll just end up with lost House-points and detentions.’

‘So I should just ignore him?’

‘Nah, punch him in the corridors or something. But don’t try it when he’s got his cronies around. Phasma throws a mean hex.’

Finn looked over and saw that Hux and Kylo were standing in front of Snoke’s desk engaged in a whispered conversation. Halfway between the desk and the classroom door, a Slytherin girl was standing with her arms crossed and a cold look on her face. Her wand wasn’t out, but Finn got the feeling it was within easy reach for her.

‘How is Hux even in Hufflepuff?’ he asked Poe as they left the classroom.

‘He’s fanatically loyal, just kind of messed up. All his friends are Slytherins. Well, I say “friends”, of course…’ Poe trailed off with a shrug.

Finn cast one last look back toward the group of students around the dark arts professor and felt an uneasy chill. It was a feeling he used to get back at Durmstrang a lot.

///

It was the first free study period of the day and Finn and Poe were walking around the lake. Poe was outlining his plans for this year’s Quiddich team when they heard the yell. 

‘Hey! Leave that cat alone, you bastards!’ 

Poe swore and ran toward the sound. Finn didn’t hesitate and ran after him. They arrived in the middle of a cluster of trees. Neither of them cared that it meant they couldn’t be seen from the castle. 

Rey was standing with her wand drawn. She was in a slight crouch and her teeth were bared in a snarl. Kylo Ren was smirking at her with Phasma and Hux at his back. Hux was twirling his wand and looking bored. Phasma’s expression was unreadable, but the grip on her wand was deft and sure. Crouched between the students was a white cat with a couple of ginger patches. Its tail was puffed up and it was alternating between a hissing and rumbling sound. For a bizarre moment, Finn thought that Rey and the cat had nearly identical expressions.

Kylo didn’t look away from Rey as the two Gryffindors approached. ‘Get out of here Gryffindors, this is between me and Rey.’

‘Actually that’s my cat,’ Poe pointed out. He didn’t try calling Beebee’s name in case movement broke the standoff, but he drew his wand. Beside him, Finn did the same.

‘Back off, Ren. Hurting an animal is low, even for you,’ Rey said, not looking away from Kylo.

‘I’m not going to hurt it for _fun_ , I need it for a ritual. You’d understand if you would just accept Professor Snoke’s invitation.’ Kylo had started gesticulating with his wand, but Rey was entirely unmoved.

‘Whatever you plan on doing, I don’t think you’d want to explain it to Professor Organa, so just get out of here.’

‘How dare you bring her into this!’ Kylo snarled. Beside him, Phasma and Hux tensed.

‘Way to defuse the situation, Rey,’ Poe murmured, as he took up a position on Rey’s right. Finn stepped to her left, brandishing his wand. She seemed to finally notice her audience. ‘I can handle this.’

Poe snorted. ‘I’m sure you can, but I’m also pretty sure that stupidly heroic is a Gryffindor job description, not a Hufflepuff one. Besides Beebee-8 is my cat.’

‘Shut-up!’ Kylo snapped. ‘This is your last chance for all of you to walk away before this gets ugly.’

Poe made a show of looking Kylo and his cronies up and down. ‘I don’t know, looks like it already has.’

‘Way to defuse the situation, Poe,’ Finn said.

‘Expelliarmus!’ Rey shouted, slashing her wand at Kylo in one fast movement. He managed to dodge, but it put him off balance. 

‘Protego!’ The shield spell formed in front of Phasma, just in time for Poe’s Stupefy to bounce off it.

‘Stupefy!’ yelled Hux and this time Rey had to dodge. Her movement was much more fluid than Kylo’s had been, and she flung her own spell back at Hux over her shoulder. It hit and Hux dropped. Beebee-8 shot off as the combat intensified.

‘Reducto!’ That spell came from Kylo. Rey’s eyes widened. She dodged, but the curse clipped her arm, opening a shallow gash. 

‘Expelliarmus!’ Finn shouted, aiming for Kylo. Phasma redirected another shield charm and Finn’s spell rebounded. He ducked.

Phasma left herself open as she tried to Enervate Hux. Poe took the chance and yelled, ‘Tarantallegra!’

Phasma had about half a second to turn around before she was hit with the dancing jinx. While she was distracted Finn cast another Expelliarmus and managed to catch her wand.

Rey and Kylo were locked in a duel. They began to throw progressively worse curses. Finn and Poe watched with their wands raised, trying to look for an opening where they wouldn’t accidently hit Rey as she dodged. Kylo was bleeding from a wound across his face now and his expression was tight with rage. Rey looked just as feral as spells rolled off her tongue almost too fast to hear properly. This was going too far.

Just then, a newcomer approached the duelists. Finn recognised the professor who had run the Sorting ceremony. ‘Put down your wands down now.’ His words were soft-spoken and Finn couldn’t imagine that anything short of some serious stunners would break the duel apart. However, both Rey and Kylo froze mid-spell at the sound of the professor’s voice. Then slowly, without taking their eyes off each other, the two students lowered their wands. 

‘Professor Skywalker—’ Rey began, but the head of Hufflepuff held up a hand. He waved his wand and Hux woke up and Phasma’s uncontrolled dancing stopped. Finn offered Phasma her wand back and she snatched it up with a glare. ‘I’ll remember you,’ she hissed at him behind professor Skywalker’s back.

Professor Skywalker was keeping an eye on Rey and Kylo. ‘We’ll talk about this elsewhere. For now I’ll let Professors Solo and Snoke know that there are students from their Houses who need to be disciplined. I am also very disappointed in both you and Hux. This is not the way of our House.’

With a quick gesture and incantation, Luke summoned his dog patronus. ‘Find Professors Solo and Snoke and ask them to meet me in my office to deal with wayward students.’ His patronus panted and wagged its tail before tearing off across the grounds. Then the professor turned around and made his way toward the castle. The students trailed after him, alternately looking dejected and angry.

‘How does he always _know_?’ Hux demanded.

‘You’re asking how the _Divination Professor_ somehow turns up whenever we’re fighting?’ Rey mocked.

Hux scowled at her. ‘Divination is an imprecise craft that barely even counts as magic.’

‘No, it’s a powerful tool in the right hands,’ Kylo said. Both Rey and Hux looked over at him. ‘Well it is,’ he snapped and shoved his hands into the pockets of his robes. The rest of the trip occurred in silence. 

///

Snoke and Solo were both waiting when the group arrive in Skywalker’s office.

‘I found these students fighting in the castle grounds,’ Skywalker announced. ‘It seems we have two from each house, so I was thinking detentions would be more appropriate. That said, it is also a first offence for Finn, here.’

Skywalker turned from the other professors for a moment and gave Finn a mild look that was no less piercing for it. It reminded him of Rey’s stare. ‘This is a dark path you’re starting on. Violence only begets violence.’

Behind him Professor Solo snorted. ‘It’s not a dark path; it’s a Gryffindor path. I’ll bet you anything that they were stopping those Slytherins from doing something awful.’ 

‘My Slytherins are exemplary students,’ Professor Snoke said. ‘What they are not are group of rowdy Gryffindors who don’t know the first thing about subtlety, I’m sure.’ He turned his gaze on his students. Kylo flinched as if he’d been struck. Phasma held her ground, but couldn’t meet Snoke’s eyes. Hux looked sullen and was trying to keep an eye on both Snoke and Skywalker.

‘Would anyone like to tell me what was going on?’ Skywalker asked.

No one would look at him. He tried to catch Finn’s eye, but the Gryffindor was looking steadily at the ground. The professor sighed. ‘So that’s how it’s going to be. Well, that’s better than lying to me, I suppose.’

‘Rey and Hux, you will serve three evenings of detention with me this week. This is not the first offence for either of you.’

They both muttered a ‘yes professor’.

‘Okay Poe,’ Solo sighed. ‘I’ve got to match Professor Skywalker here and give you three nights. Finn, though, I’ll talk to you in my office after this, but that’ll be all. This time.’

‘I like how he’s assuming there’s going to be next time,’ Poe whispered to Finn. Finn elbowed him when no one was looking. 

Snoke side-eyed the other heads of house. ‘Kylo Ren and Phasma. Three nights detention. See me in office after this to discuss… appropriate behaviour.’ He also turned his gaze to Hux, but didn’t say anything out loud to the Hufflepuff. Even Phasma looked shaken by the pronouncement.

Skywalker gave everyone one last reproachful look before dismissing the students from his office. Just as they were leaving, Solo added one last thing. ‘Oh and ten points to Hufflepuff, for Rey.’ He winked at her.

Skywalker gave Solo a sour look. ‘Han…’

‘What? It’s for her excellent charms homework. I didn’t mention it in class because she doesn’t like getting singled out like that. It’s not as if she’s in my House.’

‘Much to your eternal frustration,’ Skywalker murmured.

‘Don’t know what the Hat was thinking,’ Solo said under his breath.

///

Once outside the office, the Slytherins and Hux departed, looking a lot more subdued. Rey glared after them, before turning to Finn. ‘Nice moves back there.’

Finn smiled. ‘Thanks. You were pretty good yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say a spell that fast before.’ Poe was giving him an exaggerated thumbs-up behind Rey’s back. He ignored it.

‘Thanks.’ 

The three of them stood around for another moment before Finn cleared his throat. ‘So, about this Hogsmeade visit that’s coming up, I wondered if maybe you’d like to go with me?’ he asked.

Rey narrowed her eyes at him. Finn fought the urge to look away from the intense look. How was she a Hufflepuff? Whatever Rey saw in his face, she smiled a moment later. ‘Sure. It’s a date.’

Finn returned the smile ‘Great. See you then.’

///

Exactly 20 minutes later in the Gryffindor common room, Finn was having a freak out. ‘Why did I do that? I’m not prepared for Hogsmead! Did I seriously ask the most intimidating witch in the school out on a date?’ 

Poe coughed to hide a smile. ‘Chill. She clearly likes you or she wouldn’t have said yes. She punched the last person who asked her out.’

‘What! Really?’ 

‘Yeah, Ren asked her.’

‘Oh. Yeah, fair enough,’ Finn said. ‘But I am really not prepared for this. I don’t have anything to wear but school robes. Is that weird?’

Poe slung an arm around Finn’s shoulders. ‘It’ll be fine. I have a jacket you can borrow.’

**Author's Note:**

> **Coda:**
> 
> ‘I found these students fighting in the castle grounds,’ Skywalker announced. ‘It seems we have two from each house, so I was thinking—’
> 
> ‘50 points to Ravenclaw?’ Solo interrupted.


End file.
